The People React
by Sweetie
Summary: The sequel to Wombat on East Peacock Avenue.
1. Default Chapter

Author's Notes: If you haven't read Wombat yet, you should before reading this one. In my opinion this one isn't as good as the first one, and I debated over whether or not I should post it. Let me know if I should continue it.   
  
The People React: The Sequel to Wombat on East Peacock Avenue   
  
Emily had kept quiet for about as long as she could manage.  
  
For the past ten minutes she had not uttered a syllable. She had remained silent, twirling a lock of hair that had fallen loose from her bun around her finger and chewing the last stick of gum she had found in her purse. Sure, it looked kind of gritty, but if she wasn't going to talk she needed something to keep herself busy besides looking out the window. No one else had spoken either. Nicholas was too busy trying not to be angry, which Emily thought he had no right to be in the first place, Audrey was worried and Bobbie was using all her concentration on driving. Emily thanked God she had forgotten to give pep talks.  
  
They were on their way to the park and Emily wished with everything in her that they would find Elizabeth there. She wanted out of her bridesmaid's gown as quickly as possible. Although it was beautiful, it wasn't the most comfortable thing on the planet and should be worn only for the shortest amount of time possible.   
  
"Would you stop that?" She was snapped out of her thoughts by the comment thrown in her direction and Nicholas looked back at her with an annoyed expression.  
  
"Stop what?"   
  
"You chew like a cow."  
  
"I do not!" Emily cried out indignantly.  
  
"Yes, you do and I am trying to concentrate." She rolled her eyes and Nicholas turned away. She began chewing louder, snapping and blowing bubbles with the gum to spite him. She had had enough of him and his attitude and she wasn't thinking all that clearly; the dress and the silence and the stuffiness of the car had managed to push her to do something childish. When Nicholas turned around again Emily stopped and let her gaze rest on the beautiful sunset just outside the window, pretending to be totally captivated by it. "You are such a brat."  
  
"I'm a brat? I think you must have me confused for you."  
  
"Nicholas, Emily, it's not helping us find Elizabeth any faster if you behave like five year olds."  
  
"Yes, Mrs. Hardy." They didn't mean to say it in unison. Emily sighed and wondered if they were ever going to find Elizabeth. For all they knew she was already gone. She could have hopped the next flight to wherever and they wouldn't even have a clue. And they'd continue to wander, and her and Nicholas would continue to bicker and she'd have to stay in this dress until they ran out of gas, which wouldn't be for a while because Bobbie had just stopped and filled the tank, and-  
  
"I found her!"   
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"How's Lucky?" Laura knew without looking back at him that it was Luke. She had heard his footsteps and felt his presence for so many years that she'd know him anywhere.   
  
"How do you think, Laura? He's a mess." He said, climbing up the steps of the gazebo. She'd moved here after the rain had begun and just stayed, lost in her own thoughts, listening to the sound of the thunder and the rain and the wind. She still had the cigarettes; the pack was full except for the one that she had smoked half of then crushed on the church steps. She had watched Luke and Lucky for a while. From the churchyard where the gazebo was she had an almost perfect view of the parking lot where they had had their 'man to man' talk. Not that it did much good; Lucky was still upset and Elizabeth still hadn't returned.  
  
"I still can't believe she did this. After everything that's happened. Can you?" She looked up at him and he sat down beside her. Her mind was still wandering down different paths and possibilities, trying to analyze Elizabeth's actions and find the outcome that made sense but still had a happy ending for Elizabeth and Lucky. She hadn't found it.  
  
"I don't know what to believe." He leaned over so that his elbows rested on his thighs and kept looking over at her with a look in his eyes that mirrored her own: thoughtful, confused, melancholy with some lingering surprise.   
  
"That's it? That's all you have to say?"  
  
"What do you want me to say? That she only did this because she was scared? That she'll come back and everything will be all right? You want me to lie to you like I did to Lucky?" She was quiet for a moment. She decided he was right, there was more to it than either of them knew, but couldn't help holding on to the slim hope that they were wrong.  
  
"You don't know those things are lies. They could be true."   
  
"You really believe that?" She sighed and closed her eyes briefly, opening them to the beautiful sunset, the dark outline of the church before it. It was breathtaking. She wished that Elizabeth and Lucky were here right now to see it, together, just married and as in love as she thought they had been.  
  
"I don't know, Luke. I don't know."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
With confidant steps Gia walked over to the curb on witch Zander Smith currently sat, apparently engrossed with the cement street beneath his feet. He looked down at it as if he was studying it and Gia couldn't help her curiosity from overwhelming her. He seemed to be running his finger over it, drawing circles and shapes and for a brief moment the thought crossed her mind that he might be crazy and that approaching him would be bad. Besides, his girlfriend in her opinion had a few screws loose (anyone who would date their kidnapper was not all there in Gia's book) and she could have rubbed off on him. Or perhaps it was the other way around.  
  
Either way, she had sat alone in the car waiting for Nicholas to get back long enough and she had made the decision it was time to come out and play. Not all the guests had left yet: there was still Luke, Laura; Lucky was around there somewhere, Zander and herself. Everyone else had left quite sometime ago and she would have too, had Nicholas not volunteered to do the bride hunting and asked her very politely if she would stay here and wait for him. He wouldn't be long, he had said. Half an hour tops, he had said. They had been gone for at least three half an hours.  
  
She approached Zander quietly, careful as not to scare him, and sat down on the curb beside him. "What are you doing?" She asked. He looked up with a slightly surprised expression before he lifted his hand, the one he had been running over the ground, and Gia saw a small piece of chalk in it.  
  
"I'm drawing." He replied. "Do you plan on staying here because if you do I could leave."   
  
"Well aren't we Mister Sociable?"  
  
"I just don't like people who've blackmailed my girlfriend."  
  
"How about people who have kidnapped your girlfriend?" Zander shook his head and Gia smiled slightly in satisfaction.  
  
"Would you mind leaving right now?"  
  
"Free country." Zander sighed and focused his attention back on the ground. She looked down to see what he was drawing and she couldn't help but rolled her eyes at it: Zander loves Emily, Emily loves Zander, heart, heart, heart, blah, blah, blah. "Cute."   
  
"Yeah well when you're sitting alone for an hour and a half you get pretty bored."  
  
"Tell me about it." She paused and rested her chin on her knees, wrapping her arms around them. She was glad she had worn a long skirt instead of the short one she had originally picked out. "Do you think they're ever coming back?"  
  
"Maybe they found Elizabeth and in a fit of rage she killed them because she didn't want anyone to know she was taking off and starting a new life in Australia or wherever." He said, continuing to draw hearts and Emily's name all over the still drying ground.  
  
"Maybe."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"This means, Jason Morgan, you are never traveling alone again." She watched as he smiled the brightest smile she had ever seen from his lips and as it spread to the rest of his face, lighting his eyes, making them shimmer in the twilight. He leaned in to kiss her again and as their lips connected she felt that same spark, that same indefinable combination of emotions that made every part of her hum with desire. He wrapped his arms tighter around her waist to bring her closer. But then she broke the kiss, her lips hovering close to his and she began to whisper something, but stopped. She turned her head slightly to look over his shoulder and hoped that what she had seen out of the corner of her eye had only been her imagination. When she realized it was not her imagination, she unhooked her arms from around his neck and slowly backed away, her face etched in complete horror. It couldn't be, she thought, and it repeated over and over in her mind. Why did they have to find her now? Why did they have to find her ever?  
  
She heard Jason say something to her but she couldn't tell exactly what it was. She continued to step further back, her eyes resting over his shoulder and off into the distance as she whispered her mantra of denial. Her steps were slow and steady until she suddenly grabbed his hand and began to pull him towards the bike. The bike, their last chance at making a clean getaway. She was intent on reaching that bike, so intent she did not hear his words of protest until he stopped and refused to budge.  
  
"Elizabeth, what..."   
  
"We have to get out of here!" She cried desperately, tugging on his big hand with both of her small ones.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Elizabeth!" Elizabeth dropped Jason's hand in defeat and put one to her head as he turned around to see the sight that had caused her to loose control. But it was too late to run; they were too close to hide. He looked back at her and she smiled a sarcastic smile, trying to give him the message that if he had moved a little faster they could have been halfway to Nowhere by now. He grunted in response.  
  
The People had arrived.  
  
  



	2. The People Vs. The Wombat and Her Soul S...

"Now wait a second, Nicholas. Just calm down--"  
  
"That bitch!" Emily rolled her eyes and sighed as Nicholas opened the car door and stormed out, slamming it behind him. Of course, it had been a mild shock to see Elizabeth kissing Jason an hour and a half after she ditched her wedding to Lucky, but Nic was way overreacting.  
  
Emily, on the other hand, was not upset. Actually she was the furthest thing from it. They had found Elizabeth, which meant Emily could go home very soon and change. On top of that, they had found Elizabeth AND Jason, her long time missing in action brother whom she missed desperately. And the icing on the cake: Elizabeth and Jason had finally kissed, something Emily knew they had both wanted so badly she thought they would explode.   
  
She smiled smugly as she followed the suit of unhappy people who were quickly approaching where Elizabeth and Jason stood. To her credit, Elizabeth tried making an escape by hopping on the back of Jason's bike and pulling his hand for him to follow, but he wouldn't budge and by the time she realized he wasn't moving Nicholas had all ready approached them.  
  
Emily ran to catch up; no matter how much she was annoyed with him Nicholas didn't deserve to get as badly beaten up as he would get if he started things with Jason. "Nicholas!" She yelled, as did Bobbie and Audrey, who, despite their age, had quite a lead on her. She caught up fairly quickly even after almost slipping on the wet grass a few times. When she reached the group, she had to stop and rest her hands on her knees to catch her breath.  
  
"What the hell did you think you were doing, Elizabeth? Huh? Did you think it was funny, leaving my brother at the altar like that? Some big joke? Well no one was laughing. And then here you are, with Jason, kissing him less than hours after you planned on pledging your undying love to Lucky. How long have you been sleeping with him now? How many times have you told my brother you loved him, all the while having a slice of Jason on the side?"  
  
"Nicholas! That is enough!" Audrey put her hand on his shoulder.  
  
"Yeah," Breath, "Nicholas," Breath, "That is," Breath, "Enough." Emily panted, looking up at them.  
  
"You okay, Em?" She heard Elizabeth's concerned voice and lifted her head in acknowledgement.  
  
"Yeah," Breath, "Just peachy." Emily lifted one hand to give her the thumbs up sign, but Elizabeth didn't have much time to react before Nicholas had begun yelling again. "Just peachy." She murmured.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Elizabeth's concentration was quickly switched from Emily to Nicholas at the sound of his voice. She hadn't answered his questions, didn't know what to say, and he didn't give her much time to think. One second she was kissing Jason and feeling happier than she ever remembered feeling, the next Bobbie, Audrey, Emily and Nicholas had found her and she was being interrogated. Why couldn't she get a break just this once? Why couldn't she just take off with Jason and never look back?  
  
Elizabeth should have known life was never that simple.  
  
"No, I will not calm down! I think I deserve an explanation." He stared at Elizabeth and her thoughts couldn't help but drift back to the scenario she predicted while on the bench: Nicholas's face starting to turn a cartoonish shade of red with anger. She tried with all her might not to laugh, tried to hold it back, knowing quite well how inappropriate that would be and how much Nicholas would not like it.  
  
She laughed anyway. Not just a chuckle, but full-blown laughter.  
  
"Elizabeth!" Bobbie said. Emily, Audrey and Bobbie all looked at her with shock. Nicholas had a look of disgust and Jason was trying very hard to suppress a smile.  
  
"I'm sorry." It was all she could manage without laughing again. She looked down, trying to avoid seeing Nicholas, which might cause another burst of laughter from Elizabeth. If that happened, she could kiss any hope of a friendship with him goodbye.  
  
"You're sorry? Sorry for what Elizabeth, huh? For pretending to love my brother, for lying, for hurting him and for embarrassing him in front of all of his family and friends? You should be." Maybe she should just start kissing her friendship with Nicholas goodbye right now. She didn't know what he was so angry about. It wasn't like she left him at the altar; she left his brother. Why couldn't he just react like a normal person and accept it?  
  
"What do you want from me, Nicholas? What's done is done. I regret the way I did it, but I don't regret the reasons for it."   
  
"What are the reasons, Elizabeth?" Her grandmother spoke up, asking a question that was really not easy to answer. "I've been quite curious, and I just don't understand. You were so excited when Lucky proposed …"  
  
Elizabeth thought a moment, her eyes wandering over to Jason, who looked extremely interested in Elizabeth's response even though she could tell he was trying to hide it. "Gram, when Lucky did propose to me, I wasn't excited. I wasn't happy, I didn't feel like I thought I should feel and that scared me. I didn't know what and wasn't ready to deal with what it meant. And when I was ready, we found out Lucky was still under Helena's control and I couldn't just leave him." She really wasn't in the mood to explain herself to anyone but it didn't really seem like she had a choice. It wasn't like she could ever get them to understand exactly why she did what she did, why she acted how she acted when she was just beginning to figure some of it out for herself.  
  
"You stayed with him out of loyalty. Not love." Emily said.   
  
"Yes." Elizabeth stuck with yes because yes and no would just cause more confusion than there all ready was. "Loyalty and confusion." They all seemed to look like they were beginning to understand the little information she had given them. But she didn't know about Nicholas, who she still couldn't look at for fear of laughter.   
  
"So you were just pretending to love Lucky."   
  
"Yes." She had to remind herself to stick with simple answers, one word preferably. It was like she was on the witness stand, being accused of some horrible crime and Nicholas was the prosecution attorney. The red-faced prosecution attorney.   
  
She almost laughed again. Almost.  
  
"You were pretending to love Lucky because you didn't have the decency or the guts to tell him you didn't, is that how it goes, Elizabeth?" Oh boy did Elizabeth feel like punching Nicholas. But it seemed that Jason would beat her to the chase, and she watched as he moved from his place at her side to between her and Nicholas.  
  
"Elizabeth doesn't have to explain herself to you or anyone." She was glad she wasn't on the other end of Jason's icy glare.  
  
"I think you're wrong." Nicholas didn't seem the least bit intimidated on the outside, but Elizabeth was sure he was quivering with fear on the inside.  
  
"I think you should leave."  
  
"Or what? You're going to beat me up, just like you beat the shit out of Lucky all those months ago?"  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"You know what?" Gia broke the silence that had hung between her and Zander for the past ten minutes. The last five of which they both had just been sitting; the piece of chalk Zander found had turned into dust. That had probably been the most boring five minutes of Gia's life.  
  
"What?" He didn't even glance at her when she spoke, which she thought was extremely rude but held her tongue and did the same, turning her head away from him to stare across the street. She thought Zander was pretty rude in general. She didn't think about him a lot, didn't have to since he and Emily and she and Nicholas hadn't really spent much time together, despite the fact that Emily and Nicholas still maintained that they were friends. Yeah, friends who saw each other no more than once a month on average.  
  
"I'm sick of sitting. We should go find them." It was probably a stupid idea. She and Zander could go out and look, get lost, and by the time they find themselves Nicholas and Emily and everyone else would probably all ready be back. But then, of course, they could find the search party and she get drag Nicholas home and the wedding from hell could finally be over. This was, without a doubt, the worst wedding Gia had ever had the misfortune of attending and she could not wait for it to be officially over for her.   
  
"Start a search party for the search party."   
  
"Yep." Zander rose, brushing the dirt and chalk dust of his hands on his pants, looked down at Gia.   
  
"Sounds good to me." Gia smiled as she got up and her and Zander headed for the jag.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"What I do know," Laura said after a long pause, "is that we're not helping anyone by sitting here." And that was true. They were just sitting. Sitting and talking, which didn't help anybody but themselves.  
  
"You're right about that."   
  
Luke got up from his seat and stuck his hand out to Laura, who smiled and placed her hand in his. He half pulled her up and the walked down the steps of the gazebo, their hands still connected. Laura marveled at how good it felt just be near him and how comforting and familiar that even after all these years, she and Luke had survived. After almost loosing him she tried to remind herself how lucky she was that after everything they had been through they managed to find their way back to each other.  
  
"Did Lucky say where he was going?" Luke shook his head.  
  
"No. He just walked off."  
  
Now all they had to do was find their way to their son. And Elizabeth.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Would you slow down?" Gia shot Zander a brief glance before returning her attention back to the road. She had to focus. The more focused she was, the better chance she would have of finding Nicholas. And as soon as she found Nicholas she was dragging his ass home.  
  
"Are you driving? No. Can you tell me what to do? No."   
  
"No, Gia I'm serious! I think I saw someone."   
  
"I bet you saw someone. People kind of have a tendency to be seen, since they pretty much take up most of the world."  
  
"Drop the sarcasm and back up. I think I saw Elizabeth, but it was hard to tell because there was a whole bunch of other people with her. It could have been them." She slammed her foot on the brakes and looked behind her as she started to back up.  
  
"Why the hell didn't you just say that in the first place?"  
  
"I tried-you know, I'm not even going to bother." She saw Zander fold his arms over his chest out of the corner of her eye, but then something more interesting caught her attention: four or five people gathered around a girl in a wedding dress and a man in a leather jacket. She stopped and smiled; sure that one of the back of the people's head was Nicholas. She'd know that head anywhere.  
  
"Good because you were right. Look. It's them."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Now Elizabeth really wanted to punch Nicholas. He had some nerve drudging up the past, never mind the fact that he knew nothing about what really happened. This was not the time or the place.  
  
"For your information, Nicholas?" She said, stepping forward again so she was next to Jason, "Lucky pulled a knife on Jason and Jason was protecting himself. That was it. Not that it's any of your business."  
  
"That's not what you said when it happened." She took a moment and prepared to explain herself once again to people who did not deserve it.  
  
"I didn't know Lucky was still brainwashed back then. When Jason told me what happened, I didn't believe him. But you saw Lucky. You and I both knew what he was capable of under Helena's control." Elizabeth folded her arms over her chest and gave Nicholas an intimidating look, a look that begged him to ask more questions if he dared.  
  
"Are you finished, Nicholas?" Emily said.  
  
"No." Nicholas's eyes never left Elizabeth as he tried to be intimidating right back at her. Elizabeth's eyes never left Nicholas as she reached out to grab Jason's hand and lock his fingers with hers. It seemed to unsettle him, at least for a moment; the reminder that Jason Morgan, resident mobster was standing right beside her, ready for a fight if need be.  
  
"Yes, actually, he is." A new voice caught everyone unaware and Elizabeth glanced slightly to the left to see Gia and Zander walking towards them. She shared a look with Jason and said a silent prayer for God to give her strength.  
  
"No, actually, I'm not." Gia grabbed Nicholas's arm and looked at him pleadingly.  
  
"Nicholas come on. Stop making this more difficult for everyone than it all ready is." Elizabeth was almost shocked at Gia's display of compassion. But then again, she got the feeling that Gia wanted nothing more than to get Nicholas to go home.   
  
"Difficult for who? Elizabeth?" Elizabeth briefly caught sight of Emily and watched her roll her eyes.  
  
"Difficult for me." She said. "Look, it's getting dark, I'm freezing and everyone's had a long day. Give it up."   
  
"Emily does have a point."  
  
"Yes she does." Elizabeth turned slightly to the left, seeing Luke and Laura hand in hand walking towards her and she wondered how many more unexpected visitors were going to show up and join the party. Take part in the let's attack Elizabeth and see just how much she can take before loosing it. Or sicking Jason on them. "But has anyone seen our son? He seemed to have …run off." Oh great. Elizabeth thought unhappily. Now that Lucky had run off Nicholas would have something else to blame on her.  
  
"This is all your fault!" Nicholas cried, as if on cue. Elizabeth felt a headache coming on.   
  
"Do you have any idea where he might be?" Luke and Laura started asking questions to everyone there. Gia was still tugging on Nicholas's arm and whining about how her feet hurt and she felt like she was going to puke because she hadn't eaten all day. Emily and Zander were kissing and whispering things to each other, Luke and Laura and Audrey and Bobbie were talking very loud very close to her. And the noise began to blend together, one loud, buzzing, annoying sound in her head that made her headache increase times ten.   
  
She realized she hadn't eaten anything all day, too and began to feel dizzy. Her mind was vulnerable for one second, and in that one second, a million thoughts poured into her head at once. She thought about how Lucky could be hurt somewhere and she had caused that, she thought about how Nicholas would probably never speak to her again and how her family would probably disown her once they knew she was in love with a mobster and planned on marrying him some day. Did she really plan on marrying him? They had only kissed for the first time fifteen minutes ago. Maybe even less than that. This was not like her to be thinking of marriage so soon. But it was Jason so that made a difference, didn't it? It felt like they had been together forever. Not in a bad way, of course. Not like she was sick of him. She could never get sick of Jason. Could she? She never thought she'd get sick f Lucky and look how that turned out.  
  
Elizabeth found her breathing getting labored and another wave of dizziness sweep over her. Oh no, she thought, this is not good.   
  
"Elizabeth," Jason whispered, "Are you okay?"  
  
"Yep." She managed in between trying to get oxygen to fill her lungs. "Just fine."  
  
"Is she all right?"  
  
"Oh great. She's having an anxiety attack." Everyone moved in on Elizabeth to see if she was okay, and that just caused her to breathe even harder. "Let's all crowd around Elizabeth! She's the victim, here, not my brother!"  
  
"Oh Nicholas will you shut up!"  
  
"Does anyone have a paper bag?"  
  
"Actually, uhh I do." Everyone gave Bobbie a strange look but she ignored them and dug around in her purse until she came out with a brown paper bag. She handed it to Jason who handed it to Elizabeth who took it and began breathing in to it, the bag puffing in and shriveling up with each breath. "I always try to be prepared." Bobbie offered with a smile. "I am a nurse, after all."   
  
"I didn't know nurses carried brown paper bags." Gia muttered.   
  
Elizabeth moved back to the bench ad Jason sat down with her, one hand on her shoulder and the other holding her free one as he looked intently at her.   
  
"She's faking! She can't take being yelled at so she's faking a panic attack." Everyone turned away from Elizabeth just long enough to give Nicholas a look of mild disdain. "Oh come on. Has this ever happened before?"  
  
"Just calm down, Elizabeth, okay? Everything's all right. Nicholas is leaving. And so is everyone else." Jason took his eyes off Elizabeth only so he could give everyone the icy stare he was so good at. He looked back at her, brushed a piece of hair away from her face and stared intently at her. His eyes weren't cold or hard like they were when he looked at them. When Jason looked at her, Elizabeth noticed how warm they were, how full of whatever emotion he was feeling. Right now it was concern.   
  
Elizabeth felt her breathing slow when she glanced over his shoulder and saw everyone leaving, Gia dragging Nicholas by the arm, his form getting smaller and smaller until they got into the jag and disappeared. Her thoughts quieted and she began to feel less dizzy, her headache went from a piercing pain to a dull throb. She took the bag away from her mouth and began to speak.  
  
"Thank you." She said simply. She somehow felt disappointed in herself, though, like she couldn't handle the situation by herself. Which, of course, she couldn't. And she proved it once again by needing Jason to save her. Like always.  
  
"Are you all right now?"  
  
"Yes. Just a little embarrassed." A little embarrassed did not do justice.  
  
"Why?" Elizabeth stopped for a moment and thought about why a smart man like Jason would ask her a question like that. It was obvious to even an innocent bystander she had made an absolute fool of herself.  
  
"Where would you like me to start? Leaving Lucky at the alter was bad enough, but I had to out do myself and have a nervous breakdown in front of my friends and family."  
  
"You didn't want to marry Lucky. Simple as that. That may not have been the time to realize it, but it was better that not realizing it--or not doing anything about it at all. And you stood up to Nicholas; you defended yourself to them even when you didn't have to. I think that shows courage."  
  
"You think I'm courageous? Really?"   
  
"Oh yeah." He nodded. "And beautiful, and intelligent." She couldn't help the smile that came to her face as Jason showered her with compliments. It felt good after taking the verbal abuse Nicholas had to dish out.  
  
"Well I could listen to go you go on like this all night, but don't we have a flight to catch?" Elizabeth started to cheer up when she thought about being with Jason in Italy. Getting to be completely alone with him, with no anyone to say anything about what was wrong or what was right or who she was hurting. It would just be them.  
  
"I told you you were intelligent."  
  
"And you're usually right, Jason." She said it with more sincerity than she ever remembered saying something because it was the absolute truth. He had been right. He had been right the entire time, about how they felt about each other, about how she should trust what she feels, about Lucky. When it came right down to the things that mattered Jason seemed to know just what to do.   
  
She looked up at him as he got up from the bench and reached his hand down to pull her up. She didn't take it for a moment, just stared how handsome he looked in the pale light of the newly risen moon, knowing it was one of those moments she'd want to remember forever.   
  
Elizabeth placed her hand in his, knowing that even though she had never been to Italy, Jason had all ready shown her the light.  



	3. Oh Brother

As the taxicab began to approach Kelley's, Elizabeth found herself hoping like hell Lucky wouldn't be in there. They had moved back in after the whole brainwashing ordeal had been settled and it was safe to move out of the cottage and it was one of the places she thought he might've gone. She had a feeling if he was there it would be a repeat of the Nicholas situation and she was not ready to deal with that. Not in the least.  
  
She wished she and Jason hadn't had to separate but she needed to pack, and riding his motorcycle would have been a little difficult in her wedding dress. Stupid dress, she thought again. All it seemed to do was get in the way. It was beautiful. So what? Beauty isn't everything.  
  
The cab pulled to a complete stop and she paid the driver and hopped out, an unruly, ungraceful mass white lace and satin. She determinedly hoisted up the dress and trudged onward to Kelley's. She ignored all the strange looks from familiar faces she received as she opened the door, her head held high, dress in hand and she trudged upstairs to her room. She would not be embarrassed. Refused to be. She would go upstairs, change, pack and Jason would come and they would leave. Just like that. No complications, no interruptions, and definitely no Nicholas.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Nicholas held open the door and Emily and Lucky walked inside Kelley's in uncomfortable silence. Nicholas had found him sitting on the steps of the cottage and decided what Lucky needed right now was dinner with his friends. He and Emily would make him feel better, make him see that this was all for the best in the end. Or convince him that Elizabeth would come back to him. He was looking at the second option, but Emily was looking at the first. She seemed to think Jason and Elizabeth were actually in love.  
  
They sat down at the nearest table, Emily and Nicholas across from each other and Lucky between them. There was another long period of silence before a waitress approached them, and they ordered immediately, Nicholas ordering for a disturbingly silent Lucky. He hadn't spoken a word since Nicholas had found him. He thought maybe he was in some state of shock or something. Hopefully, he'd snap out of it soon and he could stop worrying and get back home to Gia, who really didn't even want him to leave in the first place.  
  
"So," Emily said in an attempt to start a conversation.  
  
"So," Nicholas replied and they both looked to Lucky, hoping for a response, a sign of recognition. He just stared blankly at the wall. Emily sighed loudly.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
After a shower and a change of clothes Elizabeth felt much better. She had left the dress in a heap on the bathroom floor, not bothering because it was something she really didn't want to deal with right now. Now that she had some time alone, she decided to make it useful and think about some things, get things straightened out in her head before she and Jason left. She knew that she and Jason needed to have a talk; there were some questions she needed answered, some things she needed settled.  
  
When Jason first came back, she didn't question it, only accepted it because it was what she wanted more than anything. But now she couldn't help but wonder what had brought him back to Port Charles. What had made him decide to chase her down, how he even knew where she was in the first place.  
  
She had begun to doubt herself and her choices, too. All of the sudden Jason shows up on the same day as her wedding day to another man, no less, and she agrees to let him take her to Italy? What if she hurt him again? And why did he forgive her so easily after everything she put him through?  
  
She sighed and tried to think of the positive instead of the negative. She was in love with Jason. There was absolutely no shadow of a doubt about that, and she knew that he loved her.   
  
She focused on that and pushed everything else to the back of her mind, pulling out her suitcase from under her bed and beginning to pack for Italy.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Would you excuse us, Lucky?" Lucky didn't respond, only looked blankly off into space and Nicholas decided to take that as a yes. He needed to get Emily to stop and think of Lucky's feelings for a moment, which she had obviously forgot to do considering her behavior towards him and his situation over the course of dinner. She seemed to have forgotten that Elizabeth left him at the altar not so long ago, leaving Lucky a broken, emotionally distraught and curiously silent man who probably thought his future was over because he lost the love of his life to a thug. He pulled her over to a corner of the diner and leaned in close to her, simply so Lucky couldn't hear, and in no way because he enjoyed it. Emily's actions the whole day had infuriated him. "What do you think you're doing?"  
  
"What do you mean what do I think I'm doing?" She lifted her chin to look up at him, annoyance in her eyes at his question. She had a look on her face that she got when she was angry, and for some reason he couldn't figure out at the moment he thought that look was cute as hell. Where did that come from? He blinked the thought away and went back to being angry.  
  
"What is up with pointing out every flaw that ever existed in their relationship?"  
  
"I was just trying to make him feel better." As she said it he studied her lips, became distracted by their fullness and perfect peach-pink coloring before his vision traveled back up to the rest of her face, including a raised eyebrow as she waited for his response.  
  
"You weren't doing a very good job of it."  
  
"What do you suggest I do, tell him that Liz still loves him even though I know without a doubt she's in love with Jason?" The mention of Jason's name pulled him out of his Emily-induced trance and reinstated his anger in the matter.   
  
"She is not in love with Jason. She is in love with my brother and they will get back together. "  
  
"Were you at the same wedding? Did you even listen to anything Elizabeth said at the park?"  
  
"She was lying, Em. I thought it was pretty obvious."  
  
"And you're never wrong, are you, Nicholas? I can't believe you sometimes. You know, you're just a stuck up, self-righteous, arrogant little-" Nicholas couldn't take it anymore and he stopped the last word from coming out of her mouth by placing his mouth on top of it with a passionate kiss. His desire making him forget that Lucky was only a few feet away, that he was angry at Emily right now and this was not a good way to get that message across believably and the fact that he and Emily were both in serious relationships with other people. For a moment, all there was the feel of his lips on hers and how Emily didn't fight the kiss, but surrendered after only a moment's hesitation. He broke away and looked back at her, seeing her flustered expression and it brought a smile to his face. "Prick." She finished, slightly in awe or disgust. And she turned around and walked to the table, never looking back at him.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Jason pushed open the door to Kelley's, bracing himself for another Nicholas attack. Actually attack wasn't the best word. Attack made Jason think of something fierce, something dangerous, when what Nicholas really reminded him of was an annoying fly that keeps buzzing in your ear. You swat it away, hoping it will get the picture and go somewhere else but it just keeps coming back until you squish it. Lucky reminded him of a fly too.  
  
Maybe someday he would get to squish them both.  
  
He walked right past their table, stopping only briefly to wave at Emily, wishing he could stop and talk to her but he was sure that Nicholas would start something. He really wasn't in the mood for that. Emily waved back, unknowingly breaking his cover as Nicholas turned around to see whom she was waving at. Jason quickly headed for the stairs but not quickly enough.  
  
"Hey!" Nicholas shouted rather loudly, "What are you doing here?" Jason turned back around and crossed his arms over his chest. It always seemed to get people to buzz off when he did that.   
  
"Nothing." He said simply.  
  
"Is Elizabeth up there?" Nicholas began to get out of his chair and approach the stairway followed by Emily. Lucky just sat there, seemingly enthralled by the interesting flatness of the table beneath his hands, which his head was perched on. Jason looked at Nicholas and scrunched his face up to make it look like he was concentrating hard.  
  
"Nah." He turned around and began up the stairs, only to be stopped once again by the buzzing of the fly.  
  
"Don't play games with me, Morgan, you smug son of a-"  
  
"Nicholas." Jason turned back around and saw Emily standing beside Nicholas, her hand pulling gently on his arm as she looked up at him. "Let's just go back and eat, all right? Leave my brother and Elizabeth alone." He agreed with her fairly quickly and Jason found something very peculiar about that. It was a definite change from earlier at the park. He shook it off, heading once again back up the stairs and to Elizabeth's room.   
  
He wondered if she knew that her 'friends' were downstairs.   
  
He knocked lightly on her door and heard her footsteps as she went to answer it. It opened, revealing Elizabeth, her hair wet and curling around her face. It had been pinned up before and he hadn't noticed that she was letting it grow out; he always liked her hair better long. She smiled. "Hey," She said.  
  
"Hey," He said back and she moved aside to let him in. He looked around and let out a sigh of relief at the suitcases placed neatly on her bed. Somewhere in the back of his mind he was wondering whether or not Elizabeth was really going to go with him or if she had changed her mind, found some excuse, or decided that she loved Lucky. He didn't think he could take it if that had happened. Luckily, it didn't. "Ready to go?"  
  
"Yeah." She sounded distracted and he moved closer to her, seeing a shadow of something on her face.  
  
"Everything all right?"  
  
"Can we talk?"   
  
"Yeah. What is it you want to talk about?" She sat down on the bed and he sat down beside her. She turned to him, looking down at her hands, before taking a breath and looking up at him.  
  
"Why did you come here today?"  
  
"Because I knew you were getting married and I knew you didn't want to." He smiled slightly at his correct assumption and she smiled back.  
  
"And how exactly did you know that?" She said, her tone teasing and he shrugged his shoulders.  
  
"Maybe it was part wishful thinking. I just wanted to give you the opportunity to change your mind, let you know I'm still here if you need me."  
  
"But why, Jason? After everything I did-" He took her hand and placed it in his.  
  
"You did what you thought was right. The only problem was you were thinking about everyone else besides yourself."  
  
"And you." He sighed. She was bringing up everything he had all ready worked through on his own, things he had all ready accepted and moved on with.  
  
"It doesn't matter now. What does matter is that I love you, and we're here, and we're together." She leaned in and kissed him, a sweet, tender kiss, and when they broke away Jason could see it in her eyes, could feel that she loved him through her kiss and even though she didn't need to she told him it anyway.  
  
"I love you, too, Jason." She whispered. He smiled and put his hand on her neck, his thumb tracing circles over her cheek. "I don't mean to ruin the moment, but I'll say it again: don't we have a flight to catch?"  
  
"Yes, but I think you should know that Nicholas, Lucky and Emily are downstairs." She rolled her eyes.  
  
"Oh brother. What did they do follow me here?"  
  
"Nicholas didn't seem to know you were up here. I'm pretty sure he does now."  
  
"We'll just have to sneak out without them noticing."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Emily, Nicholas and Lucky still sat at their table, the only difference being that Emily had given up on conversation after the little encounter with Nicholas. She could not believe he had kissed her. What did he think that would accomplish, besides making her angry and creating immense awkwardness between them. What the hell was he thinking?  
  
That of course, was not the only problem. The bigger one being that Lucky had gone completely mute. Hadn't spoken a word in the past hour. Emily was starting to get worried. And another problem was that Jason and Elizabeth had to come down sometime, and when they did Nicholas was sure to give them hell, and quite possibly Lucky if he ever snapped out of it.  
  
"Lucky, come on, man. Everything will be fine. You and Elizabeth will work things out." Emily sighed as Nicholas tried to pull Lucky out of his state of shock with more lies. She became bored and looked around Kelley's, her eyes wandering to the stairway just in time to see someone walk down them wearing sunglasses, a trench coat and a scarf around their head. Emily blinked once, and when she looked again the shady figure had already moved; she was standing outside, waiting for something.   
  
Emily shook her head and looked at Lucky and Nicholas. Nicholas was still having a one sided conversation with himself and Emily was contemplating leaving. They had done all they could, at least, for tonight. It would be best if they just handed Lucky over to his parents and let them see what they could do.  
  
"Where's Elizabeth?" Nicholas wasn't looking at Lucky anymore, but at her brother who was heading for the door. Jason stopped and shook his head at Nicholas in annoyance.  
  
"I all ready told you. She's not up there." He walked away, leaving Nicholas to call after him.  
  
"She's gotta come down sometime!" Nicholas lost interest fairly quickly and went back to Lucky, but Emily's eyes followed her brother outside, and as he kissed the trench-coated scarf-headed mystery woman, she smiled to herself.  



End file.
